Nevermore – The Obsidian Conspiracy (2010) Review (8.7/10)

As some of you may know, I am a total fanboy for Nevermore. I was left entirely satisfied by Nevermore’s last outing (This Godless Endeavour) and thought that things were going from strength to strength. After 5 years of waiting, the next piece in the modern, groovalicious, shred-fest yet charmingly old school metal puzzle known as Nevermore’s discography is upon us; The Obsidian Conspiracy.  This album certainly did not disappoint, it fulfilled the craving of new Nevermore material alright. However, it did not totally astound me like This Godless Endeavour or Dead Heart In A Dead World.

First we should start with where Nevermore has been. Throughout the nineties, Nevermore was playing more thrash-orientated metal, writing songs about the paradoxial nature of government policies, the worrying advancing of technology and many other philosophically-orientated topics; The Politics of Ecstacy. Then came Warrel Dane’s personal album dedicated to his lost lover, giving a much more emotional dimension to the songs and Nevermore genuinely poured its heart out in Dreaming Neon Black. However, come 2000, Nevermore saw fit to completely deconstruct their sound. It fused their thrash roots and their previous album with cold grooves to create what could only be described as the bridge between metal of old such as Judas Priest, Slayer and the like; and modern metal styles we see today. This was Dead Heart in a Dead World. A euphoric, slimy and pessimistic masterpiece. This sound developed through the next two albums, adding much more modern elements. This Godless Endeavour was a much more aggressive and hard album, less dirty than Enemies of Reality yet holding the same musicianship as Dead Heart; rare in its combination. So, as a die-hard fan, I had to see what Nevermore would do next!

One thing needs to be set straight. This is not a complete turnaround. This is not Dead Heart. Now that that’s out of the way, we should carry on with a clean slate.

Because Nevermore always lends itself to complex and abstract issues, first comes the songwriting. To put it simply, the topics are almost the same as some of the old albums, but it manages to put a fresh new spin on it. Rather than maniacally warning us of the doomsday, the lyrics are more detached from the current reality, it’s almost a concept album in this sense. It’s not as if Warrel is communicating with the listener, but rather to an unknown character and slowly unfolds a story; it’s certainly different and more akin to Enemies of Reality. One problem I do have with the songwriting is that the band does try to rekindle some of their old sleeper hits in this album. This can be seen in Emptiness Unobstructed, which shares a huge resemblance to Believe in Nothing. Furthermore, She Comes In Colours tries to hint towards Dreaming Neon Black, although not completely repeating. In summary, the songwriting is similar, but not a carbon copy.

One characteristic that was always a marmite situation with Nevermore was Warrel’s vocals. You either loved them or hated them. After royally screwing his chords in Sanctuary, Warrel became much more gruff and harsh at his higher range. This added a whole new layer of euphoric and wicked angst to the already unique sound. However, after spending some quality time with Peter Wichers in Praises to the War Machine, Warrel comes back much cleaner than he was before. In this way, The Obsidian Conspiracy is the most approachable album to date. But, Warrel doesn’t trade his wicked sound for this new-found clarity. Instead, what we find is a compromise between the two existing styles. No, this isn’t a way to cover up criticism, it actually works. Great examples of Warrel’s new pipes are Emptiness Unobstructed, She Comes in Colours and

What review of Nevermore is this without the guitars? Jeff Loomis is a master of all things guitar. And manages to not shred, but not make it sound like a soulless arcade machine. Riffs in the past have been deep, savage and incredibly memorable. And I’m pleased to say it’s business as usual. The sounds is low, chugging and modern. Just as we’ve seen in This Godless Endeavour. Again, not a massive departure, but should keep any fan comfortable and entice new listeners. The solos, on the other hand, are a little more restrained. They’re not all relentless shredding attacks, some are actually more like hard rock or Metallica. The best examples would be The Termination Proclamation, She Comes in Colours, And The Maiden Spoke and The Obsidian Conspiracy.

Drums and bass are still as they’ve ever been. Bass is hard to distinguish (by nature) but gives the whole a sound much more low end and generally tightens up the assault. Drums have always been a highlight for me in Nevermore albums. They’ve always made the songs seem more tribal and archaic. At times, though, they become more akin to Tomas Haake’s style. This is best demonstrated in And The Maiden Spoke.

My personal recommendations would beg The Termination Proclamation, Your Poison Throne, And The Maiden Spoke, Emptiness Unobstructed and The Blue Marble and the New Soul. Almost each song encapsulates a characteristic of Nevermore that has kept me listening throughout the years.

The Termination Proclamation is in the same vein as Born and gives us another look in to Nevermore’s subtle death metal undertones.

Your Poison Throne throws me back to the good ol’ days of The Politics of Ecstacy, aggressive, crazy and completely lovable.

And The Maiden Spoke is a completely new sound! It flows like a river, sounds crisp and is devilishly catchy. It draws a small amount of influence from Meshuggah and isn’t an all-out thrash fest; I love it.

Emptiness Unobstructed is just so simple, and really shows that Nevermore can write-up a competent ballad whenever they please.

Finally, The Blue Marble and the New Soul is so hard to describe! It needs to be listened to.

In conclusion, The Obsidian Conspiracy comes highly recommended by me for new listeners of Nevermore and long-term fans of Nevermore alike. The boys have done it again. Just don’t disappoint yourself by expecting them to churn out another Dead Heart, approach it with the attitude that it’s more Nevermore and you shall not go wanting more.

Nevermore - The Obsidian Conspiracy (2010) Review (8.7/10), 8.5 out of 10 based on 2 ratings

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